


The Em-bare-assing Showcase!

by ShinyRoothoot



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Anime), Pocket Monsters: X & Y | Pokemon X & Y Versions
Genre: Exhibitionism, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-12
Updated: 2019-02-12
Packaged: 2019-10-26 16:29:52
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,742
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17749424
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShinyRoothoot/pseuds/ShinyRoothoot
Summary: Serena decides to compete in the Anistar City Pokémon Showcase with an exotic dress she got from a famous Pokémon Coordinator. However, after Ash promises her a surprise after the Showcase, Serena's wandering thoughts get the better of her, leading to a less than ideal situation. (Alternate XY091)





	The Em-bare-assing Showcase!

“We’re here! We’re here!” two young girls shouted as they reached the front counter, gasping for air as they tried to catch their breath. “W-we’re here to compete in the Showcase. Please tell us we’re not late.”

The clerk smiled warmly. “Just on time!”

“Oh, thank goodness,” the first girl said, wiping sweat from her brow and pushing her honey-blonde locks out of her blue eyes. “Isn’t that great, Shauna?” she added, turning to her brunette friend. The Braixen and Pancham by her side smiled and nodded along.

“Yeah,” Shauna replied, giving an exasperated sigh of relief. “But next time, we really shouldn’t cut things so close.” She looked down at her Ivysaur and smiled. “That’s the last time we go that late with early-morning, pre-Showcase rehearsals, right Ivysaur?”

“Ivy! Ivysaur!” the seed Pokémon replied, its head tilting with delight.

The clerk cleared her throat. “Your passes, please?”

“Oh, of course!” the two said in unison before presenting their passes.

After a few keystrokes, the deed was done and their fears were alleviated.

“All right,” the clerk said. “Serena from Vaniville Town, Shauna from Vaniville Town, welcome to the Anistar City Showcase! Best of luck to the both of you.”

“Thank you so much, ma’am,” Serena said, bowing.

Shauna nodded. “Yeah, we’re really sorry about our timing, though.”

“Oh, no need to worry, girls,” the clerk said with a knowing chuckle. “I can assure you that you won’t even be the last ones to sign up before the deadline.”

With the pleasantries sorted out, the two girls bowed again and made their way out, chuckling to each other as they saw Jessilee and her entourage storm into the building in a huff.

Outside, their friends were still catching their breath on the pavement.

“Pika!” The electric mouse Pokémon was the first to notice the two girls.

“Hey, guys,” Serena said, waving. “We got here in the nick of time!”

“We’re so sorry if we made you hurry,” Shauna added.

The raven-haired boy with a red cap on his head and a Pikachu perched on his shoulder was the first to straighten out. “No problem, Serena,” he said with a toothy grin. “What’s important is that the two of you registered on time for the Showcase. And besides, there’s nothing like a good run in the morning to get you pumped up for your performance!” He pumped his fist.

“Speak…for yourself…Ash,” the bespectacled blond beside him said through deep breaths as he wiped his drenched forehead on his light-blue jumpsuit sleeve. “Some of us…don’t like…being in…such a rush.”

The small blonde next to him rolled her eyes at her unathletic, science-crazy brother. “Gosh, Clemont, it wasn’t that hard a run!”

“Bonnie!” Clemont replied with a whine. “You know I hate running.”

“Yeah,” Tierno, a larger boy in a black, Vanillite-branded T-shirt, said with a raspy voice, seated on the pavement, equally exhausted. “I need to save my energy for my dance moves.”

The little girl shrugged. “Oh brother.”

Serena and Shauna looked at each other and smiled at the scene.

“Anyway,” Serena said, “we should head in.”

With that, the group of six made their way into the building. After filing past the crowd of onlookers, and the boys finally finished catching their breath, Serena, Shauna, and their Pokémon stepped toward the corridor leading to the performers’ dressing rooms.

“Well, off we go!” Serena said, cheerfully.

“Yeah, good luck,” Ash replied with a confident grin.

“Thanks!” Serena then reached into her pocket and pulled out a Poké Ball. “One more thing,” she said before releasing a white beam of energy from the ball—and with it, her timid, newly-caught Eevee.

“E-bui-bui?” the shy Pokémon cried, its eyes slowly glancing around the crowded room as the surroundings became overwhelming. “E-bui!” it finally shouted before darting behind Serena’s legs, shaking with its eyes shut.

“Huh? Are you okay?” Serena said in alarm before leaning closer to Eevee and putting on a brave face. “Eevee, I’d like you to watch us do our very best, okay?”

“Pancham!” her panda Pokémon said with determination.

Serena straightened up again and turned to Ash and Clemont. “You’ll look after Eevee for me, right?” she asked.

“Sure,” Ash replied. “Leave it to us.”

Clemont smiled and pulled out his own Poké Ball. “All right, Bunnelby, come on out!” the young scientist said. “Please take care of Eevee, okay?”

“Bun-by!” the digging Pokémon replied.

Next, Bonnie leaned in, smiling broadly at the scared, shaking Pokémon. “It’s going to be just fine,” she said softly. “Let’s cheer for Serena together!”

“E-bui… E-bui…” the Pokémon nervously said before slowly making its way to Bunnelby’s side.

Suddenly, a flash of light shot out of Clemont’s pocket, as the scientist grit his teeth.

“ _Ches!_ ”

Clemont lunged forward, trying to grab the Pokémon as it materialized, but it was too late. His overly-enthusiastic Chespin leaped toward Eevee, arms spread out and a wide smile on its face.

“ _Ee-bui!_ ” Eevee shrieked, the hairs on its back standing tall as it quickly jumped behind the protective body of Bunnelby.

In an instant, Chespin’s beaming face crashed into one of tearful despair, yet another fearful rejection from the shy little critter the grass hedgehog had wanted to befriend since first seeing its elegant dancing just days before.

“You know, Chespin never learns,” Bonnie said, as the group frowned at the heartbroken Pokémon.

Ash nodded at Serena. “Don’t worry about Eevee. You just go and give a great performance.”

Serena nodded back. “Mhmm, thanks a lot.”

“Shauna, do your best,” Tierno said, winking.

“Count on it!” Shauna replied with a fist-pump and a wink. “You know that’s the way I roll!”

Serena took a deep breath. “Well, we’d better go get ready,” she said, motioning toward the performers’ area. “It’s time to win my second princess key!”

“You mean _my_ second princess key, Serena,” Shauna teased with a smirk.

Serena gave a competitive grin. “You’re on!”

“Braixen! Brai!”

“Pan-Pancham!”

“Ivy-Ivysaur! Saur!”

Suddenly, Ash snapped his fingers and spoke up, breaking the competitive, though friendly tension in the air. “Oh, hey, I almost forgot,” he said, catching Serena by surprise. “Serena, after you win, I’ve got an awesome surprise just for you!”

“ _H-huh!?_ ” Serena replied, freezing up instantly. Her eyes widened, her cheeks grew beet-red, and she started to sweat.

_A surprise? An awesome surprise? Just for me? From Ash?_

Time seemed to stop, though her thoughts seemed to race a mile a minute.

_What kind of surprise?_ she thought to herself. _Could it be? No—no, it couldn’t be, could it? Is Ash planning to a-ask me on a d-d-date?_

“Serena.”

_A d-date…alone with A-A-Ash?_

“Serena?”

_A-and maybe even an extra special r-reward for w-winning the Showcase? Like a…a…a…Like a…a…_

“Hey, Serena, are you okay?”

With that, Serena snapped back to reality, her eyes locking on Ash, who looked concerned. The others also gave her puzzled looks.

“H-huh?” Serena blurted out. “I-I mean, yes, of course! Never felt better in my life!” she said with a forced smile.

“You seemed to space out there, Serena,” Clemont said with a frown. “Are you sure you’re okay? Are you nervous for the performance?”

“Nervous? No! I’m ready to win this!”

Satisfied, Ash smiled and pumped his fist. “Yeah, that’s the spirit, Serena! Now go out there and show everyone what you can do!”

“Y-yeah!” Serena replied, her composure returning. “You know it! Come on, Braixen, Pancham, let’s win this!”

Her Pokémon proudly echoed her parting statement as she ran to get ready. Behind her, Shauna giggled to herself before following her lead.

Back in the group, however, a smug grin had crept onto Bonnie’s face.

“Hey, Ash?” Clemont said after the two performers were out of earshot. “What did you mean when you said you had a surprise for Serena?”

“Huh? Oh, yeah. Well, you see, I saw this really awesome store in the city that sells all kinds of cool stuff for Fire-type Pokémon. I thought, you know, that Serena might see something that Braixen could use for special training! I’m so psyched to show her!”

“Oh, Ash,” Bonnie said matter-of-factly, shrugging. “You’re so dense.”

“Hmm, what did you say, Bonnie?” Clemont asked.

“Oh, nothing, big brother,” she said, rolling her eyes. “Now, come on! Let’s get to our seats so we can watch them perform!”

“All right,” Ash said. “Let’s go!”

 

* * *

 

“Ladies and gentlemen! Ze wait is over! It’s time for an enchanting presentation of performers and their Pokémon! Ze Anistar Pokémon Showcase is about to begin!”

Serena and Shauna, as well as the other performers, gazed at the monitors backstage as Monsieur Pierre, the thickly-accented host of the Pokémon Showcase, and his faithful Pokémon Klefki welcomed the crowd and displayed the princess key prize.

In preparation for the event’s theme performance segment—the Pokémon Quiz, with the aim being for performers to prove their knowledge of Pokémon trivia facts—the performers had all gotten dressed into deep-red-colored graduation gowns and caps. Among those competing, Serena discovered a familiar face in Nini, her green-haired rival that she had met on the way to Coumarine City months before, who despite not having yet secured a princess key of her own, declared her intention to win one with an incredible performance. After acquainting her with Shauna, Serena and her two rivals took in their surroundings.

“Smooooochum!”

“Ch-cham!”

Suddenly hearing a bump on the ground, the three girls gazed down at Nini’s Smoochum affectionately kissing Serena’s less than thrilled Pancham with mild confusion.

“How cute!” Nini said. “It’s easy to see how my Smoochum’s really been missing your Pancham.”

“Y-yeah, I guess so,” Serena replied.

“They’re so friendly!” Shauna added, before sneakily shifting her eyes toward Serena and snickering.

With that, a stagehand opened the door. “All right. Nini, Lily, and Serena, you’re all going to be up very shortly.”

“Right!” Serena and Shauna replied.

“Looks like it won’t be long now,” Serena said.

Shauna looked at her two friends. “Good luck, Serena. Nini, you too.”

“Well, I’m going to take one more look in the mirror to make sure I’m ready,” Nini said with a wink. “Can’t go out there without making sure I’m at my cutest!”

“All right,” Serena replied, giggling. “But just know you look great!”

With Nini out of earshot, Serena exhaled and allowed her mind to wander.

“Hey, Serena,” Shauna suddenly whispered. “So, you’re thinking about that special surprise Ash told you about, aren’t you?”

Red blush instantly rushed back to Serena’s cheeks. “Wh-what!? I-I mean, of-of course not. I-I’m only focused on w-winning m-my next princess key, Shauna!”

Shauna flashed a toothy smile. “Of course, Serena, I know that.” She began to walk toward her own dressing space, but then stopped and turned her head back. “I just thought you might be a _little_ excited about your date tonight.” She winked and made a kissing motion with her lips, then continued walking, giggling to herself.

Serena could almost hear a tea kettle’s whistle in her ears as her face grew deep red. “ _Shauna!_ ”

 

* * *

 

“That’s one down; one more to go!” Ash said enthusiastically from the roaring crowd.

Tierno nodded. “I’m impressed.”

Just like that, Serena had managed to easily best both Nini and even the proud brainiac blonde Lily in the Pokémon Quiz, securing her victory by correcting identifying Trevenant as a Grass- and Ghost-type Pokémon. And even her timid Eevee, with Bunnelby’s help, had managed to overcome its fear of the massive crowd around it—at least for the time being—to happily cheer for its trainer.

Meanwhile backstage, Serena was getting ready to take a quick shower to freshen up before changing for the freestyle round of the performance.

“Nice job, Serena.”

Serena turned and smiled at Nini, who had just finished changing out of her graduation gown, which she held in her arms.

Nin continued, “I know I didn’t win, but I hope that you’ll win this one for both of us.”

“Thanks a lot, Nini!” Serena replied, before looking down at her triumphant Pancham, now happily and proudly basking in the affection of Smoochum without flinching, and giggled.

“The next question…”

“Huh?” Serena turned to the monitor to see Shauna competing, then, satisfied by what she saw, turned back to Nini. “All right then, I’m going to take a quick shower and change into my new dress.”

Nini smiled. “Heh, knowing you, Serena, it has got to be super cute!”

Serena laughed. “Well, yeah, of course it is! In fact, it’s a very special dress.”

“Special dress? What do you mean?”

“Yeah! You see, this girl from the Hoenn region who competes in events called Pokémon Contests sent me a box saying that she’d seen my Dendemille Town performance on TV and loved it! I looked her up and it turns out she’s world-famous! She apparently even wore the dress at something called the Wallace Cup in the Sinnoh region, where she was the runner-up!” Serena then sighed. “The thing is, I don’t know how she found out where I was, but her letter was really, really nice.”

Nini was stunned. “Wow. You got a dress from a world-famous superstar? And you’re going to wear it in the freestyle performance?” She smiled. “You know, you’re a lucky girl, Serena. I can’t wait to see the dress on you! And I’ll be cheering for you to win!”

“Thanks, Nini! That means a lot!”

“Well, I’ll give you your space to freshen up,” Nini said, as she and her Smoochum made their way out of the room, leaving Serena alone.

Serena took a deep breath, then walked over to her dressing space where a box sat beside her chair. Opening the box, she pulled out the dress, and the note that came with it. Her eyes glistening, she smiled as she read over the note again.

_Dear Ms. Performer Serena,_

_I saw your performance at the Dendemille Town Pokémon Showcase on television and I was absolutely amazed! I had never seen a Pokémon Showcase before, because they don’t have them in my country, but your performance reminded me a lot of the Pokémon Contests that I compete in as a Pokémon Coordinator, and gave me inspiration for the future contests. It also reminded me of fond memories of my past contests, as well as old friends… Anyway, as motivation to keep aiming for your goal of becoming Kalos Queen, I’m sending you one of my favorite contest dresses, because no matter how cute your furisode from Dendemille was, you can never have enough cute performance dresses! Keep it and wear it as a special gift from me. I hope one day we’ll get to meet in person. If there’s one thing I already know about you, you have good taste in friends._

_Sincerely,_

_May of Petalburg City, Hoenn_

_Pokémon Coordinator_

“Good taste in friends,” Serena repeated to herself, out loud, and then smiled broadly. Setting the note down, she looked at the elegant dress again. It was a three-piece outfit: a low-cut, short-sleeved pink and gold top with a heart pattern; a matching pink and gold waist piece with a flowing, light-purple skirt; and finally a cute, pink veil with an emerald gemstone in it for the head. Plus sandals and a gold choker to complete the outfit! “Such an exotic outfit. I wonder why she chose to give it to a complete stranger like me,” she thought to herself, before brushing her fingers over the top. “Kinda revealing, though.” She blushed. “I wonder if Ash will—”

“Braixen! Brai!” her Pokémon cried, snapping her out of her thoughts.

“Huh? Oh, that’s right! Shower! Thanks, Braixen!” the performer said as she rushed to the showers, dress in hand.

 

* * *

 

_Knock, knock, knock._

“Ms. Serena?”

The dressing room was empty and eerily quiet.

Puzzled, the stagehand scratched the back of her head. “Hmm, what could be taking her so long? She’s on next.”

Meanwhile, in the showers, Serena stood still, the warm water droplets pelting against her smooth, naked body. Cleanliness was one of the most important things to the girl from Vaniville Town. _One_ of the most important, but not _the_ most important. That other important thing was what was on her mind now.

“After this performance, Ash said he had an awesome surprise for me, but I’m not sure I can handle waiting even a second more,” she said softly to herself. “Could it be that he found out about my feelings? That he’s going to make the first move after all this time?” Then she grew apprehensive. “What if Bonnie told him? Or Shauna? Or—” A chill ran up her spine. “Or what if Miette told him!? Oh no…”

Outside, the stagehand had picked up on the sound of running water and started to walk toward the door. Just then, she saw a Braixen and a Pancham, both seated by the door and waiting, fully dressed to perform. “Well, what’s this?” the stagehand asked, alarming the two Pokémon. Then it hit her. “Wait, is Serena _still_ in the shower?”

Braixen and Pancham nodded.

“ _Oh, no!_ ” the stagehand yelped. “But she’s on next! She needs to get dressed or else she’ll be disqualified!”

“Braixen!?”

“Pan-Pancham!?”

“I wonder if Ash will be disappointed in me when he learns I wasn’t strong enough to tell him how I felt myself,” Serena continued, the sound of shower water drowning out the growing sounds of alarm outside the room. “No,” she corrected herself. “Ash always thinks I’m strong, even at times when I know I’m acting weak.” She paused. “I wonder what kind of d-date he has in mind.” She paused again. “No, it doesn’t matter. Anything we could do…just me and him…” Her blushing intensified. “Just me…and As—”

Suddenly, the shower room door slammed open with a bang, immediately snapping Serena out of her thoughts and forcing her eyes toward the ponytailed woman in the doorway, accompanied by her Pokémon. “Huh?” she gasped.

“ _Serena!_ Oh my gosh, you need to get dressed!” the stagehand said. “You lost track of time! You’re up next and on in less than five minutes!”

“ _What!?_ ” Serena’s eyes widened as she spun around, giving the stagehand her full attention. “Oh, no! I must’ve lost track of time thinking about—”

The stagehand interrupted. “There’s no time for explanations, young lady! You need to get ready right now or else you’re going to be disqualified!”

“Dis-disqualified? No!”

“And we already changed the order once to make you the last performance, so there’s nothing else I can do.”

Without even bothering to turn off the shower head, Serena hastily grabbed a towel and started to rub herself down. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” she repeated over and over again—to the stagehand, to herself, to her Pokémon. Barely covered by the towel, she barreled out of the shower room, grabbing her performance dress off the door. “Oh no, oh no, oh no.”

Feeling sorry for the poor girl, the stagehand chose to give her space. “It’s not too late, Serena,” she said, trying her hardest to sound encouraging. “But you’ve got to get dressed fast. You know where to go, though, so that’s all I can say. You can make it!” With that, the stagehand excused herself from the room.

Serena, however, was too gripped by a pounding sense of fear and dread to hear any encouragement. “No, no, no, no, no!” Growing dizzy and light-headed, her surroundings started to blur, and her Pokémon looked on in concern, as she began to dress herself. First, she lifted the dress top over her head, sliding it over her chest and adjusting it into place. Next came the skirt, which she stretched over her hips and snapped into place. Finally, she grabbed the choker, snapping it over her neck, before snagging the bejeweled veil on her way out to the door, and sticking the sandals onto her feet. “Come on, Braixen, Pancham! We’ve got no time to lose!”

“Pancham!”

“Braix!”

In their combined, blinding adrenaline rush, neither the trainer, nor her Pokémon, were able to notice, or feel, that something was missing, as a cool, air-conditioned breeze kissed up against the young performer’s soft underside as she ran like a racing Rhyhorn through the hallway to her platform to give a performance that surely would never be forgotten.

 

* * *

 

“Now, for our last performance of ze competition, so, let’s all make her feel at home!” Monsieur Pierre’s voice boomed from the auditorium speakers. “Welcome, Serena!”

The crowd erupted into cheers as the performer was raised by a platform onto the stage, flanked by her Pancham and Braixen. Up in the stands, her friends, and even little Eevee, beamed down with pride, despite a brief scare after the fireworks from Jessilee’s earlier performance—thankfully, Bunnelby had managed to calm Eevee down before it could take off running.

Just then, Ash cocked an eyebrow. “Hmm.”

“Pika?” The electric mouse looked to his trainer with confusion.

“Huh? Oh, nothing, Pikachu,” Ash said, his smile returning. “I was just thinking that dress Serena’s wearing looks kinda familiar.”

After one more deep breath, Serena looked straight ahead, nodded, and began. “ _And here we go!_ ” she announced as she and her Pokémon leaped into the air, her arms spread wide and her light-purple skirt fluttering in the air.

Instantly, there was a uniform, audible gasp from throughout the arena.

_Wow_ , Serena thought in the moment, _we haven’t even gotten started yet and they’re already speechless. Maybe that May girl was right about this dress. Although it is a bit breezy, I’d say._

Ignoring the sudden quiet in the room, Braixen spun and ignited its branch. “Braixen!” The fox Pokémon, after showing off its masterful footwork, fired off a powerful Flamethrower attack into the air.

“Now, Pancham, Arm Thrust!”

After several backflips, the panda Pokémon jumped up and pounded its Arm Thrust attack against the Flamethrower until it cut straight through. “Pancham! Pan!”

Then, as Serena curled her hand into a confident fist and gazed out at the crowd, her face faltered slightly. Instead of beaming smiles and roaring cheers for Braixen and Pancham’s long-practiced combo, she was met with wide eyes, gaped mouths, and blushing cheeks. And all the eyes seemed to be on her, and not on her Pokémon. Even Monsieur Pierre looked as if he’d seen a ghost. Nevertheless, official photographers below the stage continued to snap away.

_Huh?_ she thought to herself. _What’s up? I’ve never seen a crowd act like this before at the other performances. Maybe—maybe it is this dress._

Then, she blinked away her concerns. _No matter_ , she thought to herself, _it’s time to show Eevee’s dance in action, like I promised. Surely that will get the crowd going!_

Up in the stands, however, the performer’s dance was the last thing on her friends’ minds.

“ _Serena!? Oh my gosh!_ ” Clemont blurted out, his face caked in a deep-red hue, his hand instinctively covering his little sister’s innocent eyes just as Bunnelby covered Eevee’s.

“Clemont! I can’t see Serena!” Bonnie shouted, wiggling in vain to regain her sight. “What’s going on!?”

“ _Not now, Bonnie!_ ” the older brother said forcefully.

Backstage, Shauna and Nini couldn’t believe their eyes, their own faces covered by a deep blush. “S-Serena?” they both said quietly. Neither could move a muscle, as if they had been frozen solid by the shocking nature of what they saw on the monitor. The rest of the performers, including even Jessilee and her entourage, were speechless and deeply uncomfortable by what they saw.

In front of television monitors across the Kalos region, there were similar reactions of shock, horror, and disgust.

“My, my,” the voice of one blushing, blue-haired performer watching from a faraway Pokémon Center said, her Slurpuff frozen beside her. “I knew she _liked_ him, but I never thought she was the kind of girl to do something like _this_ in front of the whole world.”

At a home in Vaniville Town, the sound of a coffee mug shattering, followed by an otherworldly scream, erupted, instantly startling the Rhyhorn that had been napping outside awake, as well as dispersing a nest of Fletchling on the roof.

Back in the crowd, Tierno had fainted from the shocking sight, his unconscious state going completely unnoticed by the rest of the audience due to the alarming scene on the stage.

And then there was Ash.

The boy from Pallet Town, like everyone else watching the scene, was frozen in shock. His face was boiling hot and red with second-hand embarrassment, sweat was pouring down his cheeks like a waterfall, and his mouth hung open like a Victreebel. “Ser-Serena?” was all that could escape his lips.

“Ash, we have to go, _right now!_ ” Clemont said with alarm, grabbing the dazed trainer by his shoulder. When Ash didn’t reply, the scientist yanked him to his feet with strength he never knew he even had. “ _Come on, Ash!_ ”

“Oh, uh, right!” Ash finally said, regaining composure and standing to his feet.

The two boys, the second carrying his little sister, bolted out of their row and out of the auditorium as fast as they could, leaving Tierno slumped back in his seat.

“Do you think she realizes that she’s—well—” Clemont said, trying to choose his words delicately while he kept his little sister’s eyesight tucked into his shoulder.

“No! Of course not, Clemont!” Ash replied curtly. “She must’ve gotten nervous and forgot to—you know.” He shook his head. “M-maybe she was super worried about Eevee and got lost in thought when getting changed? Maybe it has to do with her spacing out earlier, back when we were in the lobby?”

“One thing’s for sure, Ash,” Clemont said, trying to keep up. “If she doesn’t realize what she’s doing right now, then once she does find out—oh man, it’s going to be awful!”

“Y-yeah,” Ash replied, solemnly.

“Pi-Pikachu?”

Ash looked at his distressed partner and gave a weak smile. “D-don’t worry, Pikachu. We’ll sort this out, somehow.”

Back onstage, Serena ordered the finale, as Pancham used Stone Edge to create stepping-stones, giving Braixen enough height to fire off one massive Fire Blast attack into the air, exploding into a beautiful, glimmering sight. With that, Serena and her Pokémon struck their finishing poses, waiting for the avalanche of roaring applause to rain down upon them.

However, instead of an avalanche of roaring applause, the trio was met with a nauseating, uncomfortable silence.

Something was wrong, Serena realized. Something was _really_ wrong.

Finally, if only to break the incredibly awkward tension that was suffocating the room, polite applause began, though the startled, blushing faces remained.

_Was the performance so good that it left them speechless?_ she thought to herself. _Or was it not good enough and they’re just trying to be nice? I really thought we had a great performance. There were no mishaps or anything, right?_

She pouted, though she tried to hide the feeling of disappointment beginning to eat away at her gut.

 “Th-thank you, Performer Serena,” Monsieur Pierre finally said, though slowly and with less enthusiasm than usual. “Thank you for that truly—” His face scrunched up. “—um, _unique_ performance, shall we say?”

Serena gulped. _This is so weird_ , she thought. _What’s going on to make everyone act so weird?_

After clearing his throat, Pierre slowly continued. “Okay, ladies and gentlemen, um, due to an, er, _unanticipated_ situation, I’ve been informed that we will be taking a 30-minute intermission before ze final voting in order to, um, deal with ze issue properly.”

With that, Pierre turned off his microphone and approached the young performer. “Um, Miss Serena?” he started. “Would you please, uh, return to your room and wait for, um—” He paused. “—and wait for ze Showcase officials to show up to speak with you?”

Serena was beyond confused. “Huh?”

Pierre tried to avert his eyes as he repeated his demand. “ _Now_ , Miss Serena.”

“Oh, um, okay, I guess,” Serena timidly replied, turning back to the platform to be lowered again.

Unbeknownst to her, Pierre had quickly positioned himself to block cameras that continued snapping at her as she faded from sight. Though the last words she faintly heard from the stage after she descended out of view made her heart nearly stop: “Ladies and gentlemen, I deeply apologize for what you just witnessed.”

 

* * *

 

Back in the halls, Serena was caught in deep, pensive thought. “What do you think he meant by that, Braixen? Pancham?” Her upper lip quivered. “Was our performance really so bad that Monsieur Pierre had to apologize to the audience about it?”

As the trio passed through the empty halls back to the dressing room, Serena’s hands also began to tremble as she held back tears. “I just don’t get it. We practiced 24/7 on that routine, every single day, and everyone said it looked great.”

“Braixen,” the dejected fox Pokémon said.

“Pan.”

Growing weary, Serena found a bench in front of a TV monitor and decided to take a seat to collect her thoughts, while she still had time. “And for everyone to hate it.” She paused. “To have let everyone down. Shauna, Nini, Tierno, Clemont, Bonnie, and—” She started to sit. “And—and to have let Ash dow—”

Then, as her butt hit the seat, she felt a biting cold chill run down her legs.

“ _Yee-ouch!_ ” the performer yelped, chills enveloping her entire body. “Jeez, why is this seat so col—” she began, until she reached her hand under her skirt to rub her backside, only to grab a handful of bare flesh.

Her heart and time itself seemed to stop, and her blood turned colder than ice. “ _Oh my gosh, I was half-naked on stage!!_ ”

“Braixen!?”

“Pancham!?”

Then, she noticed how the hallway lights hit the light-purple skirt she wore over her bare underside, and soon her mind realized what the stage lights could’ve shown. “ _Wait, and this skirt is translucent!? I was wearing a sheer skirt with no underwear the whole time!?_ ” Her hands would not stop shaking as she tried to hold the fabric to get a better look, but when she did, her worst fears were confirmed.

_Oh my gosh, those people_ , she thought to herself, her soul feeling like it was collapsing in on itself. _Their gasps. Their blushing. The fact that they looked so uncomfortable. It’s because the saw my…my…_

Serena gulped, then she froze again as another realization hit her. “ _The TV cameras!_ _And the snapping photographers!_ _Oh no! Everyone saw me like that!?_ ”

Her vision began to blur and her stomach churned. She felt like she was about to vomit.

“Everyone including…including…” At that moment, Serena gazed up at the TV monitor above her head, instantly breaking into hysterical crying as video of her performance, with pixelated censorship under her waist, played. Without a second thought, a wailing Serena jumped up from the bench and stormed away toward the dressing room, her beet-red face drenched in tears, as her exasperated Pokémon followed suit. She didn’t care who saw her. As far as she was concerned, her life was over, her performing career was over, her friendships were over; everything was over.

 

* * *

 

“Serena? Serena!” The raven-haired trainer and his Pikachu came rushing into the dressing room, barging through the door.

Shauna, Nini, and several other performers huddled in the room gasped at his arrival, which was swiftly followed by an exhausted Clemont carrying his sister Bonnie in his arm.

“Ash!?” Shauna said.

Ash gave a serious look. “Where’s Serena?”

“She locked herself in the shower room and won’t come out,” Nini replied. The other performers nodded.

“Okay.” Ash took a deep breath. “Let me talk to her.”

“What?” Shauna gasped. “But Ash, she said she—”

“Shauna,” Ash interrupted. “I have to. Serena’s a really awesome friend. She’s been by my side ever since she gave me the renewed confidence to win my first badge in the Kalos region. And I’ve watched her grow into an awesome Pokémon performer, and I don’t want her to lose her confidence just because of one mistake.” He curled his hand into a fist. “Serena is strong. I need to make sure she doesn’t forget that. Please?”

“Well, okay then,” Shauna said tepidly. “I guess if there’s anyone to try and talk to her, it’s you.”

“Thanks, Shauna.”

With that, Ash approached the door. For a moment, however, he hesitated, hearing the muffled sniffles from her crying on the other side. Finally, taking a deep breath to steel himself for what he was about to do, Ash knocked on the door.

“G-go away,” a meek, wilted voice from within said between sniffles. “I-I told you I didn’t—didn’t want to talk to anyone.”

Ash sighed, then cleared his throat. “Serena?”

_Oh no_ , the broken performer thought to herself, a chill running through her again. _No, no, no._

More tears began to drip down her cheeks, but she didn’t respond.

“Serena?”

“P-please, A-Ash,” she finally replied. “I-I…I…” Her voice petered out.

Ash took another deep breath. “Serena, can I come in?”

Serena started shaking. “A-Ash…” Though she had quickly slipped on her forgotten underwear immediately after returning to the dressing room, her heart was broken, and she dreaded having to face her friends directly. _Especially Ash._ The boy she liked just saw her humiliate herself in front of the entire world. What kind of boy would want a girl like that? What kind of boy would want such an embarrassment for a friend? More tears fell.

After a few moments of silence, Ash spoke up again. “Serena, please,” he said. Those in the room watched as he adjusted his hat over his eyes, as if to hide a sense of pain he was now feeling. “Please, let me talk to you.”

“Um…okay,” was the response after what felt like hours. “But just you.”

Ash nodded. “Yeah, just me.”

With that, the lock behind the door clicked open. Keeping to his word, Ash placed Pikachu on the floor and made his way in alone, shutting the door behind him.

Before him, Ash saw his friend, but her usual happy, upbeat, and caring personality was masked by tears and blood-shot eyes. She looked like the ghost of Serena, rather than the real deal, and that saddened the trainer.

“Hi, Serena,” he said, smiling warmly, putting on the bravest face he could muster.

Serena sniffled. “H-hi, Ash.” She paused. “Um, I—I’m r-really sorry.”

“Sorry?”

She continued, “S-sorry that I’m such an embarrassing f-friend.” She stifled another cry. “You, Clemont, Bonnie, Shauna…” Her words petered off. “You g-guys deserve better than me, after what I—after what I did.”

“Come on, Serena,” Ash said. “It was just a mistake.”

“ _Mistake!?_ ” Serena shouted. “Ash, I was _half-naked_ during my freestyle performance! The _whole world_ saw my private parts! That’s _just_ a mistake!?”

Ash stood silently, lost for words, a light blush softly glowing on his cheeks. “Serena…”

“Ash, you cheered me on when I said I wanted to be a Pokémon performer,” she said. “You said that I had the drive to even become Kalos Queen.”

“And you do, Serena!” Ash replied. “You still do, and you always will so long as you don’t quit. So long as you never give up until the—”

“Don’t you see, Ash?” Serena interrupted. “That _was_ the end.”

“Huh?”

“Ash, my whole life is over! How can I ever live down something so embarrassing!?” Tears began to stream from her eyes again. “How can I ever show my face at another Pokémon Showcase, knowing that I was the girl whose privates got broadcast for the whole world to see!?” She started shaking. “Knowing that all my friends must hate me now for embarrassing them? Knowing that they probably want nothing to do with me ever again?”

“That’s not true, Serena!” Ash said.

“Yes, it is, Ash!” Serena replied through her sobbing.

“ _No, it’s not!_ ” Ash said, placing both his hands on Serena’s shoulders.

Suddenly, it was as if a shockwave surged through Serena’s spine. Speechless, she could only gaze into Ash’s sincere, brown eyes and listen.

“Serena, you’ve seen me embarrass myself countless times,” Ash said. “Times where I’d thought deep down about whether my friends would ever want to stay my friends. But they never left me, in spite of my flaws. Because real friends don’t abandon friends because of their flaws or mistakes; real friends build each other up, complete each other, and make each other stronger!”

“Ash…”

“You see, when I started off as a Pokémon trainer, well…well, I honestly wasn’t very good. And I made really embarrassing mistakes.” Ash sighed. “Half of the badges I won in the Kanto region I didn’t even really win in battle; they were just kinda given to me, and it hurt to admit that, so I always tried to ignore the subject when my old friends brought it up. But they were right.”

Serena opened her mouth to speak, but the words couldn’t form.

“And then I made it to the top 16 of the Indigo Plateau Pokémon League,” Ash continued. “Team Rocket made me late for my match, and I almost got disqualified. And then I lost the match because I couldn’t command my Charizard, because I wasn’t a good enough trainer… You know, I’m sure that audience thought I was a real failure, but in the end, I didn’t care. I didn’t care because for every loss, there was a new journey opened to me.”

“N-new journey…”

Ash sighed, removing his hands from her shoulders and taking a few steps away. “You know, Serena, if I didn’t lose at the Indigo Plateau or the Johto League Silver Conference, I might not have gone to the Hoenn region; and if I didn’t go to Hoenn, I wouldn’t have met some really awesome friends. The same for Sinnoh; had I won the Hoenn League, maybe I wouldn’t have met my toughest rival of all. Not to mention all the Pokémon I got to meet and befriend along the way.”

Then Ash turned back to Serena. “And then there was the Unova League. It was the first time ever where I had done worse in a Pokémon League competition than my last try—plus, losing to a trainer who only brought five Pokémon to a six-on-six match, well… let’s just say, I disappointed myself. And people made fun of me for it.” Suddenly, Ash smiled. “But, you know what, Serena? If I didn’t lose the Unova League, and didn’t meet Alexa after that, well… then I might never have come to Kalos and met Clemont and Bonnie, or met _you_ again!”

Ash chuckled, brushing his finger under his nose. “So don’t let your mistakes get you down, Serena, no matter how bad they might seem. I know you didn’t mean to make a mistake today. It’s only when you let them eat away at you, and prevent you from getting stronger, that they can beat you.”

He walked back up to Serena, whose tears had stopped flowing. “And, you know something, Serena?”

“Wh-what’s that, Ash?”

Ash grinned. “Mistakes or not, I still thought your freestyle performance was the best!”

“B-but Ash…I was so…indecent.”

“Come on, Serena. There’s no reason to be ashamed of your body. You know, I’ve been on the news a couple times in my boxers and nothing else!”

Serena giggled lightly. “Really?”

“Yeah! I think I even walked in front of a TV camera naked once, and it was really embarrassing for a while because all the other kids teased me about it. But after a while, I forgot about it, and so did everyone else, and life moved on.”

Suddenly, Ash extended his hand.

Serena blushed. “Huh?”

“Let’s go, Serena,” Ash said, grinning again. “Mistakes or not, you’ve got a princess key to claim!”

With that, Serena nodded and a light smile emerged. “O-okay, Ash,” she said, taking his hand in her own.

 

* * *

 

Serena was positively stunned. “Wait, so I’m not disqualified?”

The Showcase official shook his head. “No, ma’am. You see, a qualified scientist explained the whole situation to us, and after internal deliberation, it’s been decided that you will be allowed to participate in the final vote.”

“Oh, thank you,” Serena said.

“Now, if you don’t mind, Miss Serena, the voting is about to begin. Please make your way back to the stage.”

“Right,” she said with renewed confidence.

As Serena made her way out of the room, Shauna followed close behind, stopping only briefly to speak to Ash, a grand smile on her face. “Jeez, Ash,” she said. “You’ve certainly got a way with words.”

“Um, thanks, Shauna,” Ash replied. “I guess?”

She rolled her eyes. “Oh, Ash, you just keep being you.” Then she smiled again. “I know that’s just how Serena likes you.”

With that, Shauna took off running, leaving Ash scratching the back of his head. “I wonder what that’s supposed to mean,” he said to himself, before realizing he needed to get back to his seat to vote.

 

* * *

 

“Please light your Glow Casters using the corresponding color of the performer you thought gave the best performance!” Monsieur Pierre declared. “All right, if you please!” With that, the votes came in.

Despite her confidence backstage, Serena felt sick to her stomach standing back on the stage—though now she was wearing black tights under her skirt to prevent another mishap. As the votes came in, she couldn’t bring herself to open her eyes.

With the final votes in, Monsieur Pierre made it official. “And now, the winner of the Anistar Pokémon Showcase is…Serena!”

“Huh!?” Serena was floored. “I-I won?” Then, looking up at her meter, her mouth dropped. She had won over 70% of votes cast—almost triple the closest competitor, Shauna. “H-how did I win!?”

Shauna walked over to her. “Because your performance was the best,” she said, smiling wide. “One little issue couldn’t change that. You were great, Serena. Congratulations.” Then, Shauna pulled her in for a whisper. “That, and I’m pretty sure you won nearly every guy vote in the audience,” she said with a wink.

“ _Gah!?_ ” Serena shrieked. “ _Shauna!_ ”

Meanwhile, on the other side of the stage, Jessilee’s blood was boiling over. “That disgusting twerpette,” she said, grinding her teeth. “Flaunting her figure to win a Showcase. This was supposed to be _my_ victory!” In the distance, the three members of her entourage had a bad feeling of what was to come in their near futures.

With that, Monsieur Pierre invited Serena to the center stage to accept her prize. “Congratulations on being our winner, Miss Serena,” he said. “We are happy to present you with the beautiful princess key.”

Then, he turned off the microphone and leaned in closer to Serena. “And don’t worry about this, my dear. We’ve already convinced the media that it was a technical glitch with the lighting and cameras. If anyone says it was, well, you know, then you can just say you were wearing flesh-colored tights and our officials will back you up.” Pierre winked and Serena hesitantly nodded. “And don’t worry about the photographers—they’re all in-house. None of those pictures will ever see the light of day.”

Finally, grabbing the princess key from Kelfki, Serena, Braixen, and Pancham struck a mid-air victory pose. “Ta-da! The princess key—we did it!” Serena said in delight.

“Braixen!”

“Pan! Pancham!”

“And we come to the end of the Anistar City Pokémon Showcase!” Monsieur Pierre proudly declared. “Thank you all for coming! _Au revoir, mes amis!_ Until next time!”

 

* * *

 

With the sun starting to set over Anistar City, and the Pokémon Showcase having come to a close with Serena as the winner, in spite of, er, _technical difficulties_ , all that was once wrong with the world suddenly felt right again.

Making her way out of the building, Serena found herself greeted by her Eevee, happy to once again see her happy. “Well, did you think that all of that rehearsing paid off?”

“E-bui!” Eevee joyfully replied.

Ash stepped up and flashed his grin. “That was a great performance, Serena!” he said. “I told you that you had nothing to worry about!”

“Pika! Pika!”

“You know, I wish I could’ve seen your performance, Serena,” Bonnie said, pouting. “But Clemont decided to cover my eyes for some reason!”

Serena sighed in relief. “Well, I think Clemont had a reason, Bonnie. You see—”

“There was a technical glitch!” Clemont blurted out. “You see, Bonnie, through the power of science, I was able to conclude for the Showcase officials that the colors on the cameras, lights, and monitors were messed up, making it seem like the tights that Serena was wearing were, um, well, weren’t, um—”

“What, like they’d think Serena was naked or something?” Bonnie asked matter-of-factly.

Serena, Ash, and Clemont’s faces all became beet-red. “ _Bonnie!_ ” they all said in unison.

Bonnie giggled to herself.

Wiping his brow, Clemont turned to Serena. “So, you’ve got two princess keys, Serena!”

“Mhmm, one more and I’ll be in the Master Class!” Serena replied.

Ash smiled. “So, you mean you’re going to keep on striving to become Kalos Queen, Serena?”

“You bet, Ash!” Serena replied with a wink.

Ash pumped his fist. “Awesome!”

Later that evening, surrounded by her friends at the Pokémon Center, and after marveling again at her two princess keys, Serena turned her gaze to Ash. “All right, Ash. Your turn next!”

“Awesome! I’m going to beat the Anistar Gym and win another Kalos gym badge!”

“Pikachu!”

“So, why don’t we go to the gym tomorrow?” Clemont proposed.

“Great idea,” Ash replied. Suddenly, Ash snapped his fingers. “Oh, hey, that’s right!”

“Huh? What’s that, Ash?” Serena asked.

“What, you didn’t forget, did you, Serena? I told you I had an awesome surprise for you after the Showcase!”

Serena blushed. “O-oh, that’s right! Y-you did!”

“Yeah, I think there’s still time before it gets dark, so what do you say?” Ash asked, extending his hand out.

A smile spread across Serena’s face as she nodded and locked her fingers around his. “All right, lead the way, Ash!”

As the duo bolted out of the Pokémon Center, Bonnie couldn’t help but feel her own heart flutter. “Aww, isn’t that cute, Clemont?”

“Hmm, what do you mean, Bonnie?”

Sighing and rolling her eyes, the little sister shrugged her shoulders. “Oh, Clemont, you really are dense, aren’t you?”


End file.
